Mieko Murao graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Art Practice in 2019
The Arts + Design Student Council (ADSC) seeks to represent, promote, and encourage student artistry at UC Berkeley. ADSC members interview students and alumni who excel and/or show incredible passion in the arts and design.
This feature was produced by Karissa Ho
B.A. English and Business, 2025 | UC Berkeley
What’s your story so far, especially relating to your history with design and art?
Since childhood, I always wanted to become a designer. I established a design company when I was 19. And since then, I learned how to run a business, become a leader, negotiate, etc. - basically more business-side-of-things than actual design work - by practicing actual business. Ironically in my case, to succeed as a designer I had to become a good business person. There’s a premise to my philosophy of design, and that it should always be for the users and serve them. Design also needs to consider its stakeholders, feasibility, profitability, practicality, etc. So being used to that in the working design world, it was actually very eye-opening when I studied Art at UC Berkeley. Art is free from any of those premises. It took me a while to get used to making something for the sake of self expression and not placing the audience/consumer as the primary creation reason.
How has UC Berkeley helped with your career?
It changed my mind about how I see the world!
By the time I came to Berkeley, I was already experienced, ran a successful company, and established as a designer in Japan. Looking back, I may have been over-confident and even a little arrogant when I moved to the U.S. back in 2011. But when I started doing businesses in the U.S., I experienced many failures due to cultural differences and lack of knowledge, connection, etc. So that influenced me in the decision to pursue higher education, to learn the ways of business in the U.S.
I began by enrolling at the UoPeople, the world’s first accredited university that’s online-only. I majored in business. Learning about global businesses and deep thinking about the meaning of global expansion with student peers from all over the world led me to question the nature of business, and who I really want to become through the act of running businesses. I started questioning the practices of global businesses, and began to take interest in ways to make impact based on a business model that does not put profit over everything else.
After a couple years, I transferred to UC Berkeley, and decided to research the intersection of art and business, through the lens of an artist. It was a great decision; many new ideas and eye-opening moments ensued at UC Berkeley.
How did you develop in design and art at UC Berkeley?
There were no classes on design being taught at the art department, despite its high demands. Many of my classmates were interested in design, and asked me questions about designing techniques. So I founded the student-lead class De-Cal “Brand Identity Graphic Design” course (I believe it still exists). Something I learned through teaching was that most students approach design with an art making mentality. They don’t see the “users” first. They make things for themselves, something that they personally think is cool, or make something that is similar to existing products/services. It was a spectacular discovery for me. Not everyone is a designer. No wonder “design thinking” is a thing now and has to be taught.
What are some lessons you’ve learned through your many entrepreneurship endeavors on blending the creative and the analytical (through design and business together)?
I’m trained to be creative within the given restrictions of each project. That training comes with the territory of a working designer. We often hear “think outside the box” but that approach often ends up with useless impractical ideas and wasted time. My experience of the real world work environment is that there will always be restrictions and conditions.
So it requires creativity inside the box. I often hear someone saying that kids are more creative than grown-ups, but I don’t necessarily agree. I think that the grown-ups have more knowledge and experience to source from, and that lends to creativity. If I were to tell my 6-year-old son to go play as “anything you want”, he’ll pick up his Nintendo Switch and follow the protocol presented by the game. But if I were to give him some sticks and rubber bands and go play with that, that restriction and condition would nudge him to become more creative.
Much of your work also features traditional Japanese motifs — Would you tell us a bit more about your creative influences / process informed by your history and culture?
Ever since I started living in the U.S., I find myself thinking more about ethnic identity.
I never thought about that when I lived in Japan (a homogenous country) because I was part of the majority, meaning I had majority privilege, kind of like what White people get from living in America, a government that prioritizes them as stakeholders.
I was working as a designer in Japan, and one thing that always made me feel uneasy was the Japanese-ad-world’s idolization of Europeans/white-people. The Japanese media and the world of advertisement are obsessed with the images, and emulate American/European ads for visual aesthetics. For example, we’ve seen over-placement of random white models and random English captions (which sometimes doesn’t even make sense) as part of the ad’s “design”, and budgets that are often allocated for U.S. and European location photoshoots. I get that exoticism sells in the currently established structural advertisement world, but it is disheartening to see this kind of mind programming; the grass is greener when the people are whiter?
After moving to the U.S. and seeing Japan from the outside, I started appreciating the Japanese traditional cultures even more, especially the unique pattern creations that come from it. Something awakened inside of me and I became obsessed with them, and now I make graphics that incorporate the patterns.
How is your master’s program at MIT going?
It’s been an interesting journey for me because I was expecting a bit more interdisciplinary for its core make up. But having said that, there are so many opportunities to expose my art and try new ideas outside of the classroom and I’m very grateful to the MIT community for that, and being very open-minded and resourceful.
Any current projects you can tell us about?
I’m working on a mural art for the IDM studio at MIT. The studio has this big glass garage-style door and I’m designing and placing vinyl-cut silhouettes of people, making things and doing things, on it.
When projecting light onto it, the vinyl-cut will create shadows on the other side of the wall. I think it creates an interesting canvas. I’m planning to make the silhouettes move using projection mapping. I’m also incorporating interactive elements such as using AR.
The AR is sort of a prank though. I asked an IDM faculty to secretly capture images of one of the professors using photogrammetry. My team and I created a 3D model of him, and make it look like the professor is hardcore break dancing lol.
Basically, when a viewer reads the QR code, the dancing professor appears on the floor.
Advice for any other UC Berkeley students, especially those underrepresented or minority groups whom ADSC (Arts + Design Student Council) aims to uplift, interested in breaking into design?
I believe it’s the student’s responsibility to find out what resources/opportunities are out there to maximize the school experience. It’s also important to let others know what you’re interested in. I was offered this mural project because IDM knew that I’m into this kind of stuff.
Advice to students of minority/underrepresented groups…
As a minority myself, I learned late that you have to advocate for yourself a lot in this country because that’s the culture here. You can’t just be ‘humble/quiet’ all the time though that might’ve been your cultural upbringing. It’s ok to speak up and express yourself because people are not mind readers.
I also advise to seek out other minorities and join forces. Explore each other’s intersectionality and empower yourself and the group. The power in numbers; I think coming together as a unified force to achieve something is very uplifting, for those that participate in it and for those that witness it.
Advice to future designers…
Designers and artists are often put into the same category, but the two are different in their characteristics. Identifying each role might be helpful to determine your career or your passion.
Here’s my take.
When wearing the designer’s hat, it’s crucial to think of the ‘users’ first, and when you wear your artist hat, you have to focus on the ‘self’ and its expression, free yourself from any impositions by others. If the audience doesn’t get it, it’s something for them to figure out and it’s ok when your message is not interpreted the way the creator intends it. Sometimes it’s hard to understand the art, especially when your message is complicated; art is a great way to express even if others don’t understand the expression (misunderstandings happen all the time in the real world anyway). Artists must keep creating because the art making process helps the artist organize thoughts and emotions.